News, notes and reader questions about the San Francisco 49ers

August 8, 2013

Backup quarterback Colt McCoy will have an MRI on his shoulder and neck Friday morning after suffering what he described as a stinger late in the second quarter. McCoy was tackled for a one-yard loss on the play, which was supposed to be a handoff to the running back.

"Just got it jammed up in my neck," McCoy said of his right, throwing shoulder. "So we'll look at it in the morning." McCoy described the MRI has precautionary. He remained in the game for three more plays. All of them were incompletions, including an interception on the last attempt.

McCoy said that in hindsight he should have removed himself from the game when he suffered the injury but didn't want to make an excuse for the interception, which came on a deep pass to A.J. Jenkins. McCoy theoretically is competing with Scott Tolzien for the No. 2 quarterback role this season.

McCoy finished 3-7 for 41 yards and a 22.6 passer rating. Tolzien also threw an interception. He finished 15-26 for 158 yards and a 59.5 passer rating.

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Jim Harbaugh had praise for receivers Marlon Moore, who started the game, and Kassim Osgood, who played well both on offense and on special teams. As far as Jenkins, who played more snaps than any other receiver but who ranked 10th in receiving yards Thursday. "Ah, it could have been better," Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh was not happy with the 49ers' four turnovers, one of which occurred when Jenkins fumbled the ball after an 11-yard reception, his only catch of the game. "We've got work to do in areas," he said. "We turned the ball over four times. Offensively, we've got work to do. ... Not pleased about that, turning the ball over."

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Osgood was the leading receiver among the wideouts. He had three catches for 34 yards and also recorded two tackles on special teams. Moore had a diving reception on third-down, which Harbaugh called a "spectacular catch."

Chuck Jacobs had two catches for 27 yards, Hall had two catches for 20 yards while newcomer Austin Collie got into the game at the end and had two catches for 20 yards.

"A little foreign because it's been so long," said Collie, who missed most of the 2012 season with a knee injury. "But it felt good."

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On a positive note, the defense played well, especially Michael Wilhoite, who led all tacklers with 10 stops, as well as rookies Eric Reid and Corey Lemonier. Reid finished second on the 49ers with six tackles, including two thumping hits. "He played well when he was in there," Harbaugh said. "I thought all our safeties did a nice job. Eric showed his athleticism, tackling ability."

Craig Dahl started at free safety but Reid played the most snaps of the four contenders at the position. Lemonier, meanwhile, had his way with Broncos backup right tackle Vinston Painter. Another backup outside linebacker, Dan Skuta, also played well. He finished with three tackles and two sacks.

-- Harbaugh was asked about the recent signing of cornerback Eric Wright. "We're looking forward to Eric getting back to the player that he thinks he can be and we think he can be, " he said. " "We want to work with him and have this turn out to be a good story."

-- Rookie linebacker Nick Moody said the injury that knocked him out of the game in the third quarter was not serious. Moody had to be helped off the field but was walking under his own power after the game.

-- LaMichael James said he was having trouble with the Candlestick Park winds while fielding punts in warmups. But the game proved less precarious. James handled one punt cleanly and let another bounce behind him. Chad Hall and Perrish Cox also handled punt returns.

-- Lawrence Okoye got into the game at right defensive end on Denver's second-to-last possession. He was double-teamed on his first snap and driven backward. He had good recognition of a misdirection play on the second snap. Overall, it was too small a sample size to give any sort of assessment.

-- The official game book indicates that running back Jewel Hampton appeared in the game. However, it was not on offense.

-- Special teams player Ray Ventrone left the game with a hamstring injury.

MATTHEW BARROWS

Matt was born in Blacksburg, Va., and attended the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1995, went to Northwestern for a journalism degree a year later, and got his first job at a South Carolina daily in 1997. He joined The Bee as a Metro reporter in 1999 and started covering the 49ers in 2003. His favorite player of all time is Darrell Green.